This invention relates to improved apparatus for harvesting berries on low plants and in particular is directed to apparatus for harvesting strawberries.
Over the past many years strawberries have been picked using manual labor. The strawberries are simply picked by hand in suitable containers; however this slow, tedious procedure is not well suited for commercial operations. In certain areas, the demand for manual labor during the relatively short picking season has placed a strain on the available labor pool. Current labor rates also place a strain on profit margins so therefore the need has arisen for apparatus capable of harvesting a substantial acreage of berries per unit of time in an acceptable manner.
As described in the above-noted application Ser. No. 753,524 experimental work was carried out at the University of Maine a number of years ago in an effort to develop a commercial blueberry harvester. The picking head there developed was incorporated into a harvesting machine which is described in Canadian Patent No. 961,275 issued Jan. 21, 1975 naming Charles G. Burton as inventor. Although a substantial amount of work went into this machine in an effort to make it work properly, such efforts, at least in part, were considered unsuccessful by those skilled in the art and the machine was not a commercial success. The machine was incapable of withstanding the rugged conditions encountered during use, was prone to damage, and did not pick nearly as efficiently as was initially predicted.
The apparatus described in the above-noted application Ser. No. 753,524 overcomes many of the problems of the prior art machines and has been a significant success in the harvesting of blueberries. Although the above-noted application predicts that similar equipment can be used with strawberries, successful picking apparatus has not yet become commercially available so far as is known.